Nationals sign ex-Braves catcher Suzuki to 2-year deal: report

Catcher Kurt Suzuki is heading back to the Washington Nationals after agreeing to a two-year, $10-million US free-agent contract, a deal pending a successful physical. The deal was disclosed to The Associated Press on Monday by a person familiar with the agreement who spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract was not yet official. The 35-year-old Suzuki would get $4 million next year and $6 million in 2020, up from $3.5 million last season, his second with the Atlanta Braves. He became a free agent after batting .271 this past season with 12 homers and 50 runs batted in as

Bills QB Josh Allen returning to starting lineup Sunday

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen will make his return to the starting lineup this week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Head coach Sean McDermott made the announcement on Monday. Allen missed four games after suffering an elbow injury in Buffalo’s Week 6 loss to the Houston Texans. “I’m excited to see him back on the field,” McDermott said. The Bills used three different starters — Derek Anderson Nathan Peterman, and Matt Barkley — during Allen’s four-game absence. Barkley started for Buffalo against the Jets and provided the team with its best performance under centre this season. He threw for 232 yards, two touchdowns and

Late pitcher Halladay among new names on Hall of Fame ballot

Career saves leader Mariano Rivera and late pitcher Roy Halladay are among 20 new candidates on the Hall of Fame ballot for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, joined by 15 holdovers headed by Edgar Martinez. One of the best pitchers to wear a Blue Jays uniform, Halladay was killed last November when his small plane crashed in the Gulf of Mexico. He was 40. Halladay, nicknamed Doc, was with Toronto from 1998-2009, winning 148 games and the 2003 Cy Young Award as the American League’s best pitcher. He won the National League Cy Young in 2010 after being traded to Philadelphia

Wheelchair Doubles Masters: Louise Hunt & Dana Mathewson lose final

Hunt competed at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics Great Britain’s Louise Hunt and her American partner Dana Mathewson lost the women’s Wheelchair Doubles Masters final in the Netherlands. The pair lost 6-3 6-1 to Dutch pair Marjolein Buis and Aniek van Koot. Hunt and Mathewson had beaten Buis and Van Koot in a group match but found them too strong in the final. Briton Lucy Shuker and her partner Diede de Groot won the third place play-off 6-0 6-1 against Katharina Kruger and Michaela Spaanstra. The Masters is the ITF’s final doubles championship tour event of the year. Inspired to

Canada defeats St. Kitts & Nevis in CONCACAF Nations League qualifier

Captain Atiba Hutchinson’s goal late in the first half lifted Canada to a 1-0 victory over St. Kitts & Nevis on Sunday in CONCACAF Nations League qualifying play. The win was the fourth straight for coach John Herdman since he took over the Canadian men in January. His team has outscored the opposition 15-0 in the process. As expected, the well-organized Sugar Boys proved to be a tougher test than the U.S. Virgin Island and Dominica, whom the Canadians dispatched by a combined score of 13-0 in their two previous matches. “It was a resilient performance,” said Herdman. “At times

Danny Willett ends 953-day wait for victory at final European Tour event of the season

Danny Willett ended his 953-day wait for victory (Image: GETTY) Despite a near disaster at the last, Willett managed to brilliantly save par and a round of 68 and win by two shots with an 18-under par total. Fellow and reigning Masters champion, Patrick Reed (70) and England’s Matt Wallace (68) shared second on 16-under par. The win is Willett’s second victory in Dubai after claiming the 2016 Omega Dubai Desert Classic but a first since April that same year when he superbly won the Masters. Though there was an anxious moment for the 31-year-old when his drive on the

A new superstar has arrived – Becker says Zverev’s win is a watershed moment

Highlights: Dominant Zverev beats Djokovic to win ATP Finals Alexander Zverev stunned Novak Djokovic to win the season-ending ATP Finals on Sunday, earning the 21-year-old the biggest win of his career. Six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker, who coached Djokovic to six major titles between 2014 and 2016, watched the match as a BBC Sport commentator. He explains why his fellow German’s victory over the world number one is a significant moment. Alexander Zverev winning the ATP Finals is a moment which the whole tennis world has been waiting for. For years we have been saying tennis needs new faces

Watch the moment 21-year old Alexander Zverev seals a surprise 6-4 6-3 straight sets victory over world number one Novak Djokovic with a sublime forehand passing shot to win the ATP Tour title at the O2 Arena in London. REPORT: Zverev stuns Novak Djokovic to win ATP Finals in London Available to UK users only. BBC Sport

Alexander Zverev stuns Novak Djokovic to win ATP Finals in London

Alexander Zverev beats Novak Djokovic to win the ATP Tour final Alexander Zverev stunned world number one Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win the season-ending ATP Finals and earn the biggest victory of his career. Djokovic, 31, was the heavy favourite to win a sixth finals title but was outclassed 6-4 6-3 by the German. Third seed Zverev broke Djokovic for a 5-4 lead in the first set and then served three big aces to take the set. Zverev, 21, continued to dominate in the second set and sealed a memorable victory as Djokovic faltered. “I’m unbelievable happy, obviously

GB’s Cotterill & Lapthorne lose Masters final

Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne were the top seeds in Bemmel Great Britain’s Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne were lost the men’s Wheelchair Doubles Masters quads final in straight sets to Nick Taylor and David Wagner. The American pair won 6-4 7-6 in the Netherlands – their fifth victory in eight meetings with the top seeds. Bryan Barten and Ymanitu Silva beat Greg Hasterok and Lucas Sithole 6-4 6-2 in the bronze medal match. Cotterill and Lapthorne last won the event in 2016. Briton Gordon Reid and Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez were beaten in the semi-finals of the men’s doubles by

Formula 1 plans grid penalty method change after Sochi qualifying

The FIA is considering a change to the engine penalty grid system following the controversial Russian Grand Prix qualifying in which only 10 cars ran in Q2.

Drivers who change enough power unit elements to earn a back of the grid penalty start the race in the order those elements were first used, which is based on who left the pitlane first in practice one.

The automatic back of the grid demotion was in itself a tweak to the initial system of varying levels of penalties for different components, which led to anomalies such as drivers getting 60-place penalties on 20-car grids – though that at least helped order those penalised.

The current system means drivers concerned do not have any incentive to run in qualifying, though they generally make a token effort in Q1.

At Sochi three of the five penalised drivers were quick enough to progress to Q2, but none of them ran in that session because there was no point in wasting tyres or engine mileage.

Renault consequently also chose not to run in Q2 because it felt a guaranteed sixth row start with free tyre choice was advantageous.

The FIA is now considering making penalised drivers line up in order of qualifying time, encouraging them to participate fully in the session.

The change would also put a stop to the bizarre sight of penalised drivers lining up early at the pit exit at the start of first practice for grid position reasons.

“When you’ve got five drivers with exactly the same penalty, you then have to establish in what order they are supposed to be.

“I think there is another way, I’ve been talking about it to a few teams.

“Instead of having cars line up at the pit exit in a rather farcical way, and that sort of thing will only ever get worse, if you have five drivers you will arrange them at the back in the order in which they qualified.

“That would provide some incentive for drivers to actually go and qualify, and try to qualify as high as they could at least.”

Whiting believes the chance of that plan being voted are “quite high”, though he added “there may be some drawbacks that we haven’t thought of yet, it’s a relatively new idea”.

Sporting boss Ross Brawn agreed F1 must “look at the rules to ensure they are comprehensible and produce the best possible show.”

He also called Lewis Hamilton backing off at the end of a hypersoft run in Q2 so he could start on the slower ultrasofts “definitely definitely not good for the show”.

Brawn said the recently-revealed push for a revised qualifying format was a good example of F1 needing to always evaluate potential changes.

“No agreement was reached on introducing it for 2019 but the seeds of discussion were planted, now we have to make sure they grow well,” he said.